I come upon this ad: http://hem.bredband.net/b135922/ferrari_365_gtb4.htm Is there any 365's with only two tail lights or is this rebuild to look like a 400? I never have owned any Ferraris but lately I been obsessed with the 365/400/412 because they have it all that I want, V12, 4-seater and 70's design. Should I dare to buy one?
Somebody more knowledgable than me on these specific cars might be able to help you better, but it doesn't look like a 365 interior to me - it looks much more modern than my 1974 365BB. The tail lights are definitely not original - I think the car may have had a rear impact and it was repaired with a 400i section. The engine shows that it is indeed a 365 but someone has been changing things at some stage. To me it looks like the engine needs work, and the price is not bad but it's not great either. I would walk away from this one. If you want a car like this, and you want to drive it now, then buy the best on the market. If you don't mind waiting a while, you could restore a bad example but then you need all the bits to be correct and you need to bring lots of cash with you. These cars are notorious for destroying peoples budgets. If you have a good one, then it's not that bad on the wallet, but a bad one... Good luck! Onno
It's hard to say about this particular car without knowing the serial number but I do believe that there were a very few 365 GT4 2+2 built with two taillights on each side and that Erik (Judge4RE) has one of those. I'll bet that he has more information on that. As for the price of 29,500 Euros, it is nice to see that as that translates into nearly US$39K at the current exchange rate of $1.32/euro. It seems as though, contrary to popular thinking in the current economy, these cars are edging up in value. Even so, these are highly undervalued V12 Ferraris but understanding the actual service history and mechanical condition is critical to making sure that the price you are paying is fair.
My bloody oath you should buy a 365.I have a'74 and drove a thousand miles in 12 hours with stops(many for fuel).It was the best drive in any type of car I,ve ever experienced.I have a 65 330GT but the 365 is the much better long distance car. The taillight thing came up a couple of weeks ago,according to (I think)ArtS who thinks the first of the 400 series had 3 tail lights but not the other way around.I would suggest the rear ender is the correct answer.If you want to know more about the 365 please don,t hesitate. Simon.
IMHO you can't compare pricing this way - cars in Europe and particularly in Sweden (where this car is) are very heavily taxed. This causes them to have more residual value because people expect cars to be expensive. But the taxes are not the same, they vary wildly from country to country. For instance, my 550 Maranello in Holland was just valued at 80k. The same car in Germany (just 100 miles to the east!) would be worth around 70k, and in the US it would probably be worth 60k. Another example: my UK 365 Boxer is worth around 90k in England. A left-hand drive example in Holland would be worth 120k, even though there are 3 times as many LHD examples. Also - this is just 1 advert, we have no idea if the seller is realistic or asking too much, so we can't take this as representative of market trends. Onno
Simon, You're backwards, late 365GT/4 2+2s have 400 style taillights. The car is likely correct for late '75. The interior has been redone; the seats are the correct style but the dash and center console should not be red. Early cars had 'mousehair' dash and center console, I'm not sure about the later cars. The trunk should have black carpet. That said, if the mechanicals check out, it should make a nice driver (except for the glare from the red dash pad). Regards, Art S.
Thanks for all your replies! I have to send the seller a mail to ask him about the tail light. If the car has changed all the back due to an accident it doesn't sound like a good car to buy. Or? Wouldn't be good possibility that the car is skewed/crocked (don't know what's is the correct term)? But I guess if all things looks OK, I should take it to a Ferrari garage to make a careful inspection, before I buy it? The price, its in my view a bit high but that what's his initial offer. Actual I never seen a manual 365/400/412 on sale in Sweden so its hard to tell the price. An automatic are price round 17-20000 (400i) in Sweden. But upside is that we have something called "veteran car", ie a car older than 30 years, which hasn't have any tax. Also the insurance is ridicules low, like 250-400 a year, but then you can't more than 5000 km a year.
ArtS mentioned the interior;I think you,ll find Ferrari never would have put that colour inside that type of car,also the red engine bay finishing is not correct....unless that is a reflection from the dash!!!!
Red is not a problem on the leather, just the dash, trunk and console. The most important thing is to make sure the car has no rust and has lots of service - remember, all of the original rubber is now bad. Regards, Art S.
I've seen a couple of them with 4 tail lights over the years. Mine has not been wrecked and seems to be original with its current configuration. I've not found any cut wires or anything rigged up in the back. I agree with some of the other posters, this is one hell of a GT car, vastly under rated, but by all means, find one that has been properly maintained. Too many strange colors on the engine that raise many red flags for me. There are some nice ones out there (especially in Europe). I'd drive this one to see if you like it, but would hold out for a better example.
+1 there seems to have been a transitional period for 365's where some of the last cars had two tail lights on each side instead of three. The lights on this car seem to be different than any I think I have ever seen though... and different than the lights found from '76 onward. I would be curious to see if the lenses say Carello or not.
Very interesting point now that you mention it. I wonder if the lenses on the GT4 were some sort of replacement. Even though the second car below is my 400i, I don't think that the taillight lenses changed over the years. They have no circular center section and furthermore seem to be convex rather than concave: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Precisely, that's why I want to see if the lights on that '75 say Carello... ..I suppose there's a possibility that the car was wrecked and those lights on the car are from an Opal GT or something... hmnn..
Yes, and also the 75 has the metal housing protruding out much farther than standard, which has much more of the lens on the sides going toward the body. When cars start getting 20, 30, 35 and more years under their belts, there is likely to be some significant gaps in their known history, whether it is prior accident damage, how well it was repaired, former ownership or locations or other things about how they spent time on this planet. When buying a car such as this, absent a detailed history of these things from the seller, it takes a bit of good detective work and close inspection to get the picture of what has happened to the car and where it has been. And even then there will be lots of unknowns.
Alright boys, am I good or am I good? Check this out below. Those lights on judge4re's car look like Hella lights used on the Opal GT just like I said. I suppose the car could have still come from the factory this way... Ferrari has used a lot of German parts and parts commonly found on other cars.. The reason why I mentioned the Opal GT was because a long time ago, my dad had a friend who had a Dino that was wrecked. He couldn't find the replacement taillights at the time so they fixed the car with Opal GT lights. That may have been what happened to judge4re's car......or it may have just come that way but those look like the Opal lights to me. http://www.taillightking.com/images/Foreign_German/70_Hella_THK19_Opal_GT_BackupAssy1.JPG
